Embroidered Children’s ArtWork into Framed Wall Art

I am so proud to say that my little guy has mastered ‘the smiley face’ all on his own. I wanted a sentimental way to preserve this little masterpiece, and even though my inital plan did not go as expected I am more than thrilled with the end result. {that is what I love about crafting…you can always somehow make it work in the end}
Begin with a masterpiece created by your little budding artist. Our artwork was simply drawn on a sheet of plain white printer paper.
Once your little one has completed the artwork, take a black {or dark colored} crayon and go over each and every line, pressing very hard. {I suggest to use a good branded crayon as the inexpensive waxy kind will not transfer well}

Cut a piece of fabric the size to fit fully in a frame. {I used an 8X10 frame and some Natural Osnaburg fabric I had left over from the ruffled table runner}

Lay the artwork, crayon side down, on top of the fabric and iron. The iron should be set on the cotton setting and you want to press each section of the drawing for at least 30 seconds.

Remove the paper and you will be left with a faint image of the original artwork. Initially I thought this would be a bit darker, but since the image came through so light I decided to use some embroidery floss to enhance the image.

Now I should not be even calling this embroidery because I know some people gifted in this talent will probably snicker at my work. {I have never embroidered a day in my life but I do know how to thread a needle, old school fashion, by tying knots ~ It works} You are probably also suppose to use ‘that hoop’, but I just pulled the fabric taut as I was stitching, in and out, very ‘basic’ stitches. I think my embroidery skills add to the cuteness and authenticity of the artwork though =)

I used several new pieces of floss for each line, using the transfer as a guide. If you use the transfer side as your ‘back side’ the finished image will NOT be reverse. {I happen to re-use a piece of trial and error fabric, so I could not do this on my piece as both sides of my fabric had images on them; that is why my finished piece is reversed from the original drawling}

I used some spray adhesive on the back of the fabric to adhere it to the frame backing. {the tied knots do cause the fabric to bubble just a bit and this helps create a smooth image}

That makes me smile too! I can remember doing a similar thing as a school project in about the third grade. We did self portraits and then stitched them on burlap. My mom used to have all hanging up in the hallway.

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